Page 2
Daily Nebraskan
Wednesday, September 4, 1985
N
Digesft
w
ines today;
to head fall aMeitda
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress
ends its summer recess today with
lawmakers seeing red red ink, that
is as one of their first major deci
sions will be to either raise the public
debt ceiling over $2 trillion or leave the
government unable to finance its
operations.
Sanctions against South Africa, trade
protection bills and farm programs also
sit atop the agenda as the fall session
begins.
There's little question Congress will
extend the treasury's borrowing power,
which could run dry by the end of the
month. But the Senate, which will take
up the issue first, is braced for an ons
laught of amendments from senators
tired of approving the steady rise in the
debt, which has doubled since 1980.
Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole,
Man., predicts the fight will be "the
donnybrook of the year."
"We all know that the debt ceiling
has got to be raised. That's not the
issue," said Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas.
The question, he said, is "are we going
to change the system that has failed
us."
Gramm said he's prepared a budget
reform package to propose as an
amendment to the debt ceiling bill.
The plan would force the president and
the Congress to gradually reduce annual
deficits to zero by 1990.
The latest government estimate put
the national debt at $1,819 trillion on
Aug. 29, just $5 million shy of the legal
limit of $1,824 trillion.
The budget Congress adopted Aug. 1
estimated the government's borrowing
needs would require a debt limit of
$2,078 trillion for next year and up to
$2.5 trillion by 1988. Interest on the
debt costs $140 billion a year.
The full Senate won't convene until
next Monday, when a vote is scheduled
on choking off a conservat ive filibuster
blocking final approval of sanctions
against South Africa
President Reagan reportedly is con
sidering a veto of the compromise leg
islation, approved earlier by the House.
The Republican-led Senate might over
ride such a veto.
The House convenes today with a
ceremony to swear in Jim Chapman, a
Democrat elected to Texas' 1st District
in a special election runoff on Aug. 3.
Chapman replaces Rep. Sam Hall, D
Texas, who resigned to become a fed
eral judge.
Titanic ruins found
Survivors want vessel 'left in peace 9
NEW YORK (Reuter) - The Titanic,
the world's most famous shipwreck,
which was discovered Sunday, is stand
ing upright and almost in one piece in
its watery grave, its finders reported
Tuesday from their research vessel off
the Newfoundland coast.
But the scientists aboard the U.S.
Navy oceanographic survey ship Knorr
declined to reveal the exact location of
the luxury liner that sank 73 years ago
and killed 1,513 people, for fear that
the news would ignite a deep sea trea
sure hunt.
Legend has it that a king's ransom of
diamonds and gold bullion were aboard
the supposedly "unsinkable" ocean
liner that struck an iceberg on its
maiden voyage and sank on April 14,
1912, as tons of water poured into a
300-foot deep gash.
"They do not want to release the
exact location of the Titanic because
they want to see it preserved as a
marine memorial for the time being,"
said a spokeswoman for the Woods
Hole, Mass., Oceanographic Institution,
one of the sponsors of the successful
hunt.
That sentiment was echoed by 21
survivors who, now in their 80's, sud
denly found themselves reliving the
most terrible moment of their lives
as children they were forced into life
boats as their elders stayed aboard to
die in the North Atlantic.
"I think other surviviors would agree
that the Titanic should be left in
peace," said Eva Hart, 82, at her home
near London. "I would prefer my father's
grave to remain undisturbed."
Hart's father put her into a lifeboat,
waved goodbye and drowned with 1,513
others, including millionaires John
Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim .
and hundreds of luckless steerage pas
sengers whose names are now all but
forgotten.
"I always felt they should just leave
it alone. I don't know what's to be
gained looking for it," said Marshal
Drew, 81, who was eight years old when
his uncle put him aboard Titanic life
boat number 11.
Dr. Robert Ballard, the head of the
French-American expedition that found
the ship, reported to Woods Hole on
Tuesday that the Titanic was found
standing upright and almost in one
piece by a specially outfitted robot
undersea searchcraft called the Argo.
The Argo, about the size of a Toyota,
carried with it super-sensitive
"swimming-eyeball" cameras and sonar
equipment that beamed back pictures
to Knorr.
The point of the expedition was to
test the Argo and Ballard thought look
ing for the Titanic would be the ideal
way to do that, the Woods Hole spokes
woman said.
There was no immediate word on
when those pictures would be released,
but the Knorr is scheduled to return to
Woods Hole in six days.
Although Ballard would not give the
location of the Titanic, he said the ship
sunk not far from where original reports
of the maritime disaster said it did
about 400 miles southeast of New
foundland. Ballard also declined to
give the depth of the ship's watery
grave, but reliable reports said the ship
lay at a depth of about 12,000 feet.
The Argo was able to delve through
wreckage the size of five football fields
and scientists aboard the Knorr declared
they were delighted at the results.
Their work has temporarily halted
Tuesday because of rough seas. The
Woods Hole spokeswoman said there
were no plans to raise the Titanic, but
there were plans to return to the area
next year and conduct even more
detailed surveys, using even more
advanced equipment.
The French-American team had asked
the Navy to take them to the area where
the 40,000-ton vessel sank.
In a ship-to-shore telephone conver
sation with Canada's CTV network
Monday night, Ballard said, "We came
on it (the Titanic) early this morning.
It was just bang, there it (the Argo) was
right on top of it. . . We went smack
dab over a gorgeous boiler."
He added, "To a lot of us who had
researched it for so many years, the
Titanic has taken on more than a
shipwreck. It's a true disaster and to
finally put those souls to rest was a very
nice feeling."
With its double bottom and water
tight bulkheads, the Titanic had been
regarded as unsinkable. Its vaults are
believed by some to contain millions of
dollars in gold, diamonds and other
jewels. But Titanic expert Russ Lownds
of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said Tuesday
reports of a treasure probably were a
myth.
A roundup of the day's happenings
The Nigerian press was told Tuesday by the country's
new military authorities to exercise its regained freedom
with restraint. On taking power after an apparently
bloodless coup last week, Nigeria's new president, Maj.
Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, said he is repealing a
decreed that made it an offense to publish stories the
government deemed inaccurate or embarrassing ....
Two years ago this week, Americans couldn't pour Russian
vodka down the drain fast enough to show their outrage at
the Soviet downing of a Korean Air Lines jet and the loss of
269 lives. Today, Stolichnaya, the only Russian vodka
imported in the United States, is the top-selling imported
vodka in America. Its suppliers are scheduled to run a
full-page ad in the New York Times today to apologize for
not being able to meet the demand .... A green tooth
containing the world's oldest dental filling has been found
in the skull of a Nabatean warrior who died 2,200 years ago
in southern Israel .... Art Schilchter, free of the
compulsive gambling habit that led to a year's suspension
by the NFL, marked another milestone in his comeback
with the Indianapolis Colts when Coach Rod Dowhower
promoted him to starting quarterback Pakistani
drug agents have burned more than 7.5 tons of narcotics
that had been seized in Karachi during the past year. The
haul was reported worth $100 million .... President
Reagan leads the list of the 10 best-mannered people in
the country, says etiquette expert Marjabelle Stewart. Her
"Encyclopedia of Etiquette" will be published next
spring Teachers at Concord High School in New
Hampshire said goodbye to colleague Christa McAu-
liffe, 37, who begins training next week for her flight in
January 1986, aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Shj
was chosen in July from more than 10,000 teachers to be
the first teacher in space .... Princess Anne,
daughter of Queen Elizabeth, is the first leading member
of British royalty to take part in a radio call-in program,
answering questions about her childhood, her nervous
ness and her sometimes thorny relationship with the
press .... Brazilian forensic experts are carrying out
further tests at the request of the U.S. government on the
skull of the man they are certain was Nazi war criminal
Josef Mengele .... One of the best parts of a meal at
Peking's new Longevity Restaurant in China, is looking for
the fried ants among the sesame seeds. The ants, a special
large breed native to northeastern China are prized for
their medicinal qualities. They're just one of the attrac
tions at the restaurant, which proclaims "medicine is food
and food is medicine" An attacker believed linked
to a Palestinian guerrilla group hurled two hand grenades
into a Greek hotel, injuring 18 British tourists, including a
dozen deaf-mutes . . . . The port packing industry has too
few hogs and too many workers, forcing most companies to
hold the lines or cut wages to stay in business, a Chicago
analyst says Vietnam veteran Bob Wieland, 38,
has spent nearly three years making his way across the
nation to fight world hunger, propelling himself with his
arms to demonstrate that the loss of his legs in Vietnam is
no excuse to stop caring.
From News Wires
Ramirez, 25, charged in slaying
LOS ANGELES Richard Ramirez, a drifter arrested in the "Night
Stalker" serial slayings that terrorized California, was charged Tuesday
with murder and seven other felony counts including burglary, robbery
and sexual assault.
The 25-year-old Ramirez was charged with the May 14 murder of William
Doi, 66, who was shot in the face in his surburban Monterey Park home,
and the sexual assault of Doi's wife. t
Ramirez answered "yes" three times in a loud and clear voice as he
confirmed his identity, waived his right to enter a plea and waived his
right to a preliminary hearing in 10 days.
"We've had only the briefest period to discuss with Mr. Ramirez the
defense of his case," Deputy Public Defender David Meyer said in asking
for a delay in entering the plea.
Municipal Court Judge Elway Soper ordered Ramirez to appear Sept. 9
to enter a plea. There is no bail in the case.
32 injured in emergency landing
ABILENE, Texas Thirty-two passengers suffered minor injuries
Tuesday after an apparently malfunctioning engine fire warning light
resulted in the emergency landing of an American Airlines DC-10. The jet,
carrying 190 passengers and crew, was flying from El Paso to Dallas-Fort
Worth when an activated engine fire warning light in the cockpit forced
the pilot to land at Dyess Air Force Base near Abilene. An inspection of the
jet after it landed showed no evidence of a fire in its three engines. Most of
the injured were treated for cuts and bruises caused by their evacuation
throng"! instable chutes.
1,068 transnational firms in S. Africa
UNITED NATIONS 'A total cf 1,CC3 transnational ccrpcrri ions had
&STiatcs in South Africa in 1&C4, according to a U.N. report published
Tuesday. Cf these, 40$ wera from the United States, 3G4 from Britain and
142 from West Germany, it said. Most of the other firms were listed as from
Australia (24), Canada (21), France (20), Netherlands (17), Sweden (13)
and Switzerland (32). .
The report-was published in advance cf a hearing to be at U.N.
headquarters later this month on the activities of transnational corpora
tions in South Africa and the South African-administered territory cf
Namibia (South West Africa).
These firms were either concentrated in, or essential to the operation of
the modern sector of. the economy. And because benefits from these
sectors accrued almost exclusively to the whites, "it can be said that
transnational corporations are of particular importance to the preserva
tion and growth of the white minority economy," the report stated.
Pentagon seeks advice on refunds
WASHINGTON The Pentagon is seeking advice from U.S. defense
contractors on a policy that would provide refunds to the government for
over-priced military spare parts, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger
said Tuesday.
The plan was prompted in part by congressional pressure over pub
. iished reports cf equipment such as $800 toilet seats and $7,500 coffee
makers on military aircraft, '
Six firms General Dynamics, General Electric, Boeing, Grumman,
McDonnell Douglas and Rayethon have cered to provide unquesti
oned refunds or credits if parts and equipment are returned within a
limited time after purchase.
Arson blamed for N. Jersey blaze
PASSAIC, NJ. An arson inspector said Tuesday that children may
have started a trash bin fire that spread to dozens of factories and houses,
destroying the jots cf 2,200 people and the homes of up to 40-1
The fire, declared under control at 1 a.m. Tuesday, caused zzi estimated
$400 million in damage to mere than 40 acres. One firefighter died of a
heart attack, and others suffered minor irjurics.
The blaze dealt a staggering tlow to this blue-cellar city of 55,000
residents and the neighborhood cf Hispanic and Polish immigrants, some
of whom lost both their jabs EJid their hr.ies.
Unisex contraceptive vaccine studied
GLASGOW, Scotland A unisex contraceptive, a vaccine successfully
tested on monkeys, will be available for use by humans within five years, a
British scientist said.
Dr. Dennis Lincoln said the vaccine works by producing antibodies to
sperm and has been tried successfully on marmoset monkeys In
Edinburgh,
"It rendered them infertile for periods of more than one year without
disturbing other aspects of their reproductive cycle or behavior. They then
became fertile again," he said.
Lincoln said the vaccine's main potential use would be to ofTer contra
ception for several years for vcrnen, adding, however, that there was no
reason why it should net also be given to men. - .
Post-hurricane cleanup underway
EILOXI, Kiss. - Thousand cf Gulf Coast resident, hell hostage for -.;
four days by prowlisg hurricane Elena, returned horns Tuesday to swveyf
the destruction inflicted ty 125-iaile-per fcourwinds and surging tides. :
PrsU.TJr.ary deaaga estates ran as ti $:C0 ration, tut corral
dwellers were thankfd that Ekr.a did not I'vg uo to its tiling as a
potential killer rvrricar.e.
Three deaths t;vo ty ecrt attack and cr.3 by a felled tree were
blamed on the stem.
On the Gulf Coast, the nr in dr.rgcr has pared, and a mieeive eteer.u?
effort is underway. Ia town u'icr town alcr.g a stretch cf cca:tllr.3 from
Louisiana to cerin.1 Florida, returning residents were stunned ty the
scenes cf destruction
" From tii'X't W'Wzt ' '